• Guest, Help The DPF Community Thrive - Join Our Donation Drive Today!

    We're launching a special DPF Donation Drive to ensure our beloved forum continues to flourish. Your support is vital in helping us cover essential server costs and keep our community running smoothly — This is more than just a donation; it's an investment in the future of our community.

    Join us in this crucial drive and let's ensure our forum remains a vibrant and dynamic place for everyone.

    Please visit the DPF Donation Drive Thread for details and instructions on how you can make your donation today!

How to guide: Respecting cast members

Status
Not open for further replies.
How to guide: Respecting cast members
Psycho Pixie

Psycho Pixie

Vacations are a grand thing
Rating - 100%
213   0   0
Messages
7,998
Location
9 minutes from DLR!!!!
At the Request of a couple people, I am doing this how to guide. I want people to respond! I just want it to stay respectful.

Respecting Cast Members with Lanyards:

  • When approaching a CM with a lanyard, make eye contact. There's a face above the pin lanyard you know. small talk is a good idea too!!!
  • Do not touch or fondle the lanyard. Remember, this is on their chest or their hip. reaching to touch those area's can be considered a sexual harassment, as well as rude...
  • Ask a CM to remove a pin for you to get a closer look.
  • Did you know that many CM's with lanyards have them by choice? They WANT to talk to us! They might even like it if you pass on information from the pin community.
  • Many CM's do not realize the amount of counterfeits/fakes/scrappers of Hidden mickeys that exist. Lecturing them is not respectful. However polite conversation in which the topic comes up it totally cool.
  • You can ask to see a pin off the lanyard and still give it back without a trade. Inspect your pins before trading, but do not blame the CM for a fake on their lanyard.
  • Do not knowingly trade a fake/counterfeit/scrapper to a CM. They just makes the pin community look bad.
  • If you have a kid, do NOT coach them on which pins to pick from a "kids only" lanyard. It's a KIDS lanyard, let your KID pick the pin to trade.


Respecting Cast Members at the service counter:

  • When buying pins from behind the counter, ask the CM how they are doing, be kind. They are under a lot of pressure from less thoughtful people who are demanding and rude. Do not add to their stress.
  • If a CM is in conversation with a fellow CM, do not interrupt them, wait respectfully to the side, they will notice you.
  • Do not be afraid to ask questions about upcoming releases. But if theres a line behind you, keep it brief, or tell the CM to finish the line before discussing the future releases.
  • If you are inspecting your purchases, be efficient about it, bluntly, it doesnt take 10 minutes to decide if THAT LE pin is perfect. 1 minute cursory inspection. You can pay, and move to the side, then inspect better. If it has a flaw, get in LINE to return it. do not cut.

Respecting Cast Members over the Phone:
  • Many Phone Service CM's do not have as much information as their superiors, the websites or those at the parks. Remember that and respect their limitations.
  • It takes time to look things up on the computers, Impatience will only frustrate them. If a CM gets frustrated with you, chances are they will be less helpful.
  • Do not expect miracles.
  • These are human beings on the other end of the line. Respect that, treat them as you wish to be treated.
  • If it is not their department, chances are they won't have the most accurate answer.
  • Let the phone bot ask questions, it helps get you to the right department and the right people to answer your questions.
  • Complaining to the CM about problems doesnt help much. Try sending and email or a mailed letter to a department head.
  • Raising your voice, yelling or argueing is NOT going to get you anywhere.

Respecting Cast Members at big releases and events:
  • They have a set of rules and a schedule to follow. Respect that, accept it, and work within those boundaries.
  • If a CM tells you to stop what you are doing, listen to them.
  • If a CM is trying to make an announcement, hush and listen, it might be important.
  • CM's have the an enormous responsibility to ensure events and releases go smoothly. Your misbehavior or inappropriate actions could cost someone a job! BEHAVE yourselves.
  • THANK the CM's who are handling the event or release. They would like to know we appreciate them and the efforts they go to for our insane hobby.


I welcome input for this How to guide! Please let me know if we can change/add to it!
 
Last edited:
As a cast member, I thank you for posting this! Can I add a few things please? I'm adding these as a fellow pin trader only and not as a cast member; they're my personal opinions/views, NOT those of my company!

Please do NOT touch/pull/tug on the cast member's lanyard, or touch pins that are still ON the cast member's lanyard. If you want to see something closer, ask nicely! 'Can I please see that Mickey pin beneath Stitch closer?' If you have bad vision and need to take a closer look, again, please tell the cast member that! "I have really bad eyesight, would you mind if I have a closer look?' I get asked this all the time and am happy to take off my lanyard so that the guest can see it as closely as they would like!

If you want to see a cast member's lanyard but they have a line of people they're serving, please either stand to the side where you can see the cast member's lanyard(and if you see a pin you want to trade for, please get in line), or go ahead and get in the line. It isn't fair to other guests who are waiting to make purchases or, in some cases, trade pins, if you cut in front of the line and/or interrupt the current transaction by asking 'Can I see your pins?'

Please ASK to see a cast member's pins! Please do NOT just go up to a cast member and stare at their lanyard IE their chest. It's awkward and not very polite. Even if you don't make small talk, as Psycho Pixie suggested, a simple but polite "Hi, can I please see your pins?" or "Would you mind if I looked at your lanyard?" goes a long way!!!

Please do NOT be rude/blame the cast member if they don't know anything about pins/scrappers/counterfeits/etc. or if they have a lot of them on their lanyard. Most cast members are NOT trained on how to spot them, a lot of them don't even know what a scrapper/counterfeit is, or that they even exist. Cast members who know about them are generally either pin traders/enthusiasts/collectors themselves, or have gone out of their way to learn the information, or have been 'schooled' by previous guests. I know Psycho Pixie talked about this before, but it doesn't hurt to reiterate.

I might add more later, but right now I'm coming off effects from anesthesia and am a bit foggy-brained. *lol* Again thank you for posting!!
 
Last edited:
shooting4ownhand said:
There was a really good (and long) tumblr post on why you should respect cast members. It goes with the post. I shouldn't have been shocked at how badly people treat cast members, my brother had horror stories from just working in retail and people don't pay $100 to get into Best Buy.
Click to expand...
I really liked this...there are a few cast members that my husband and I have run into at WDW who aren't in it for the magic (all guest control but other cast members have come straight out and told us that "pack" as they called that group has an attitude) but there are also SO many that work SO hard to make everything run smoothly.
 
brookepleins said:
I really liked this...there are a few cast members that my husband and I have run into at WDW who aren't in it for the magic (all guest control but other cast members have come straight out and told us that "pack" as they called that group has an attitude) but there are also SO many that work SO hard to make everything run smoothly.
Click to expand...

You just made me really sad.... PAC(parade audience control) was one of the areas that I was in as a College Program CM. That's actually where I did a ton of guest trading. If anything though it was one of the areas you could pick up extra shifts and not be trained..

By the way +1 on the thread.
 
Last edited:
I'm sorry, coblj...both times were people who didn't try to help my husband and me in any way (I use a wheelchair when I go to the parks because I sprained my ankle extremely badly thanks to Wal-Mart and a wet floor a couple of years ago - it never healed right and I can't walk long distances.) We were trying to find places I could go/sit so I could see the parades. We asked them for a little help with problem solving and they didn't want to help or seem to care at all. We even had one basically state when I said that I was disabled "yeah, yeah....EVERYBODY'S disabled."
 
I'm sorry that had to happen to you, when did this take place though? I hope you were able to talk to a manager or city hall. I'm still apart of the group on facebook so I'll relay the message. But I will stand that it was hard to work with so many random CM's from different areas that didn't know what they were doing...
 
You would have though all these points would be obvious but unfortunately not to some people :( it really upsets me, especially the whole lanyard etiquette, seen as they chose to have their pins on show to trade!
 
brookepleins said:
I'm sorry, coblj...both times were people who didn't try to help my husband and me in any way (I use a wheelchair when I go to the parks because I sprained my ankle extremely badly thanks to Wal-Mart and a wet floor a couple of years ago - it never healed right and I can't walk long distances.) We were trying to find places I could go/sit so I could see the parades. We asked them for a little help with problem solving and they didn't want to help or seem to care at all. We even had one basically state when I said that I was disabled "yeah, yeah....EVERYBODY'S disabled."
Click to expand...

Refer to my previous post. P.S. there are three designated handicapped accessible zoned at MK(I'm assuming): across from city hall, on the hub facing tommorowland, and liberty square across from hall of presidents. As I've always told guests: once the parade has started, try to find a place in frontierland as that's the last place it passes and last place that fills. I hope I've been a much more curteous PAC member then before.
 
The employee who made the statement about "everyone's disabled" did so last November...Veterans' Day Week/Weekend. We were able to talk to City Hall and I believe they got it straightened out. I agree that it had a lot to do with lack of training but there was no way he should have made that statement. What you tell the guests sounds perfect.
 
Great topic. Thanks for starting it. I imagine we all need reminders since none of us are perfect. :) Especially when getting pin fever!
 
This is a great guide. I can not say how many times I've seen both adults and children scolding CM for scrappers, and them man-handling their lanyards. I have actually said things to them, and they just ignore me, but the CMs appreciated me saying something.
 
I honestly can't imagining just man-handling a lanyard. I have been guilty of glancing at the lanyard from a distance if we were in a merchandise location and I wanted to see if it was worth the time to wait for a merchandise CM that was busy but other than that I always ask "may I please see your pins?"
 
...Am I the only one that's a little bit concerned at this post having been made in the first place? :( Is there seriously people who WOULDN'T be treating CMs with respect unless they saw this post telling them how to do that?
 
Thanks Pixie, this is so great! I don't have anything to add, just my conversational thoughts...

Psycho Pixie said:
Did you know that many CM's with lanyards have them by choice? They WANT to talk to us! They might even like it if you pass on information from the pin community.
Click to expand...

Some of the absolute BEST times we've had at the parks were conversations we had with CM's while pin trading and/or purchasing! There was the man whose whole family-- he and his twin brother and his sister and their dad-- all moved to CA from Oklahoma because they all wanted to work at Disneyland. There was the retired New York City cop working the gift shop at the Rock n' Roller Coaster, who noticed my tattoo and complimented me and showed me his tattoos. There was the Ukrainian man working in World of Disney who saw me checking Pinpics on my phone to see whether I already owned a pin or not, and had never heard of Pinpics, and was so delighted when we told him about it and wrote out the URL for him that he got us Honorary Citizen buttons for being the most interesting people he'd talked to all day. :) There was the man working crowd control for the fireworks show, who not only helped soothe a friend of ours who was having a bit of a panic attack, but who turned out to be a Jungle Cruise skipper who knew my friend's cousin. (He's now our favorite skipper and we try to get on his boat every time we go! He even recognizes us!)

I'm usually pretty shy about talking to strangers, but talking to cast members is almost always WONDERFUL.

Many CM's do not realize the amount of counterfeits/fakes/scrappers of Hidden mickeys that exist. Lecturing them is not respectful.
Click to expand...

Not only that, but... someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the case that they aren't allowed to refuse trades anyway? So if someone trades them a scrapper, even if they know about it, what are they supposed to do? Don't lecture them for something they can't help!

We did once have a CM teach *us* about scrappers and how to recognize them (this was with the princesses-in-flowers HM set, I believe) and he very kindly replaced my friend's scrappers with real ones, and put her scrappers aside somewhere, I assume to be thrown away or destroyed. But he spent a LOT of time on us (this was at the pin board in the hotel gift shop at the Port Orleans at WDW), and even if they are aware of scrappers, most CMs just do not have the time to spend sorting through all the pins like that-- they have an actual job to do.
 
I might add that as tempting as it is to take them all leave at least one good pin for other people waiting in line! On one of my last trips to Disneyland a cast member had at least 8 hidden mickeys on their lanyard and after waiting 10 minutes for them to stop talking in order to get my hands on one I realized that one single person in front of me took all of them... Isn't there a two pins for person per board/lanyard rule? I know not everyone knows this but come on! Most of us pin traders do!
 
Psycho Pixie said:
At the Request of a couple people, I am doing this how to guide. I want people to respond! I just want it to stay respectful.

Respecting Cast Members with Lanyards:

  • When approaching a CM with a lanyard, make eye contact. There's a face above the pin lanyard you know. small talk is a good idea too!!!
  • Do not touch or fondle the lanyard. Remember, this is on their chest or their hip. reaching to touch those area's can be considered a sexual harassment, as well as rude...
  • Ask a CM to remove a pin for you to get a closer look.
  • Did you know that many CM's with lanyards have them by choice? They WANT to talk to us! They might even like it if you pass on information from the pin community.
  • Many CM's do not realize the amount of counterfeits/fakes/scrappers of Hidden mickeys that exist. Lecturing them is not respectful. However polite conversation in which the topic comes up it totally cool.
  • You can ask to see a pin off the lanyard and still give it back without a trade. Inspect your pins before trading, but do not blame the CM for a fake on their lanyard.
  • Do not knowingly trade a fake/counterfeit/scrapper to a CM. They just makes the pin community look bad.
  • If you have a kid, do NOT coach them on which pins to pick from a "kids only" lanyard. It's a KIDS lanyard, let your KID pick the pin to trade.


Respecting Cast Members at the service counter:

  • When buying pins from behind the counter, ask the CM how they are doing, be kind. They are under a lot of pressure from less thoughtful people who are demanding and rude. Do not add to their stress.
  • If a CM is in conversation with a fellow CM, do not interrupt them, wait respectfully to the side, they will notice you.
  • Do not be afraid to ask questions about upcoming releases. But if theres a line behind you, keep it brief, or tell the CM to finish the line before discussing the future releases.
  • If you are inspecting your purchases, be efficient about it, bluntly, it doesnt take 10 minutes to decide if THAT LE pin is perfect. 1 minute cursory inspection. You can pay, and move to the side, then inspect better. If it has a flaw, get in LINE to return it. do not cut.

Respecting Cast Members over the Phone:
  • Many Phone Service CM's do not have as much information as their superiors, the websites or those at the parks. Remember that and respect their limitations.
  • It takes time to look things up on the computers, Impatience will only frustrate them. If a CM gets frustrated with you, chances are they will be less helpful.
  • Do not expect miracles.
  • These are human beings on the other end of the line. Respect that, treat them as you wish to be treated.
  • If it is not their department, chances are they won't have the most accurate answer.
  • Let the phone bot ask questions, it helps get you to the right department and the right people to answer your questions.
  • Complaining to the CM about problems doesnt help much. Try sending and email or a mailed letter to a department head.
  • Raising your voice, yelling or argueing is NOT going to get you anywhere.

Respecting Cast Members at big releases and events:
  • They have a set of rules and a schedule to follow. Respect that, accept it, and work within those boundaries.
  • If a CM tells you to stop what you are doing, listen to them.
  • If a CM is trying to make an announcement, hush and listen, it might be important.
  • CM's have the an enormous responsibility to ensure events and releases go smoothly. Your misbehavior or inappropriate actions could cost someone a job! BEHAVE yourselves.
  • THANK the CM's who are handling the event or release. They would like to know we appreciate them and the efforts they go to for our insane hobby.


I welcome input for this How to guide! Please let me know if we can change/add to it!
Click to expand...

Since there isn't any "applause" picture icon, I will use this Thumbs-up one :bigthumb: to say...well done, Ms. Pixie. I completely agree, and I will add, 'follow' these guidelines myself.

Thank you for taking the time to type out, and edit this thread.
 
ok. have to share. some ex cast member was on the radio today and mentioned that she saw a dad LET his kid drop his pants and pee in line for the haunted mansion once....

folks, respect the cast members, dont let yer kids pee all over, a CM has to clean that up! gross!!!!!!
 
Psycho Pixie said:
ok. have to share. some ex cast member was on the radio today and mentioned that she saw a dad LET his kid drop his pants and pee in line for the haunted mansion once....

folks, respect the cast members, dont let yer kids pee all over, a CM has to clean that up! gross!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Holy crap...I mean holy pee!....disrespectful doesn't even begin to cover that...
 
Very well said! We can only hope people will read this and learn. I especially like the part that states cast members wear lanyards by CHOICE! they're supporting the hobby and should be appreciated! Thanks for great tutorial!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top